Set up live streaming using an RTMP-based encoder in Wowza Streaming Engine

Originally Published on 10/01/2010 | Updated on 04/19/2019 1:56 pm PDT

Configure Wowza Streaming Engine™ media server software to receive an encoded live stream from an RTMP-based source and play the live stream over all supported streaming protocols.

Video: Connect an RTMP encoder to Wowza Streaming Engine

Configure the live streaming application

Live streams are configured and managed in live applications in Wowza Streaming Engine. You can configure a live application in Wowza Streaming Engine Manager or by setting properties in the application's XML configuration file. Both methods produce the same result; editing Application.xml is the only option if you use Wowza Media Server™ software.

Configure the live application in Wowza Streaming Engine Manager

This example uses the default live application that installs with Wowza Streaming Engine.

You can use Wowza Streaming Engine Manager with the latest version of most web browsers that support HTML5 and Cascading Style Sheets level 3 (CSS 3). We recommend Google Chrome.

In Wowza Streaming Engine Manager, click the Applications tab at the top of the page and then select the live application in the contents panel.

You're almost done. To finish, configure the source user name and password to publish to the application.

Click Server in the menu bar, click Source Authentication in the contents panel, and then click Add Source.

Enter a Source User Name and Password, and then click Add.

Configure the live application in XML

This section shows you how to configure the live application by editing the Application.xml configuration file in a text editor. If you configured the live application in Wowza Streaming Engine Manager, skip this section.

Navigate to [install-dir]/conf/live and open Application.xml in a text editor.

In the <Streams> container element, make sure the <StreamType> property is live. The XML looks like this:

<Streams>
...
<StreamType>live</StreamType>
...
</Streams>

Set the <HTTPStreamers> property for all supported HTTP streaming protocols. The XML looks like this:

Publish the source stream to Wowza Streaming Engine

In your encoder, enter the following application connection settings, and then click Publish or Start:

Server URL – rtmp://[wowza-ip-address]/live

Stream Name – myStream

User – publisherName

password – [password]

Note: See the documentation for your source encoder for help configuring it.

To verify that the stream is published, click Incoming Streams for the live application in Wowza Streaming Engine Manager, and then click the stream name. Uptime, network throughput, and other information about the published stream appear on the page.

Test playback

In Wowza Streaming Engine Manager, click Test Players in the upper-right corner of the live application page.

Each tab in the Test Players window either hosts a test player that can play the live stream, or provides instructions for playing the live stream. The test players are preconfigured to stream the default live stream myStream.

For example, to test playback of the default stream myStream over Adobe HDS, make sure the encoder is sending a stream to the live application in Wowza Streaming Engine and that Adobe Flash is enabled in the browser you're using. Then, click the Adobe HDS tab and click Start.

You can also test your live stream by using the test players online on our Wowza Test Players webpage, or by using the example players that install with Wowza Streaming Engine at [install-dir]/examples/. For more information, see any of these articles:

Troubleshooting

RTSP/RTP

RTSP/RTP streaming is used to stream to Android and BlackBerry mobile devices. Android devices used to support Adobe Flash player, but don't any more. Newer Android devices support Apple HLS. HLS works best on Android 4.0 devices and above.

To stream to RTSP/RTP, be sure that UDP ports 0-65535 are open and mapped to the Wowza Streaming Engine server.

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